360XQ Days 1 & 2

Greetings from Chapala. It's my second day in Mexico, and oh man, am I ever in Mexico. Let's begin, shall we?

The Journey

Yesterday I flew from Los Angeles to Guadalajara, and let me tell you what: there is a Starbucks and a Burger King at the Hidalgo Airport, and said Starbucks will serve you a chorizo and manchego sandwich on a fancy plate. With chipotle sauce.

After a brief taxi ride, I arrived at our casita on Gonzalez Gallo for my first evening in Chapala. I was greeted by my hosts, Cobra and Christian, and promptly offered a glass of tequila. A very good start.

Here are some migratory pelicans who also flew down from the north.

Xochi Quetzal?

If you're wondering: I am here as a guest artist, as one of five recipients of the Xochi Quetzal 2015 Winter Residency. Also if you're wondering: Xōchiquetzal, meaning "maiden" or "precious flower feather," is an Aztec goddess of beauty, fertility, and female sexual power. If that won't inspire my artistic spirit, I sincerely do not know what will.

These fish scream fertility.

The Plan

I'll be in residence for one month, along with another writer, a musician, a painter, and a mixed-media visual artist. My plan is: 1. To research and write a new full-length play, 2. To eat all of the al pastor I can stand, and 3. To run off said al pastor each morning with a jog along Lake Chapala.

Not a bad lake.

The Town

The casita here is lovely, and in fact I'm drafting this post from our rooftop while I finish off my second cup of locally roasted coffee. This is about as fancy as playwright life gets, I think. I have zero complaints.

Here is the courtyard of the casita, complete with hammock.

Today I explored the town a bit, guided by Christian and Mocha (the perrito in residence), for a waterfront run and a few stops in the town center. Christian got juice-in-a-bag. I tried to buy 12 tortillas and instead got 12 pesos-worth of tortillas, which is...a lot of tortillas.

I liked these towers. This is not where the tortillas came from.

Digging In

Tonight we'll have dinner and meet some other local artists before we dig into our work at full throttle. I'll be making cocktails, of course, because bartender is my spirit animal (but also goats...and also bears...). I'll be blending tequila with fresh lime, grapefruit, ginger, basil (from the garden), and some sparkling mineral water.

I will blog daily to catalog my progress on the play (which will hopefully keep me extra accountable), and to just talk about how great Mexico is. There will also be a lot of photos of tacos and cervezas, so prepare for the food porn. That's why we're all online anyway, right?